If you have a Netflix subscription in the USA (or somewhere else), what will happen once you go abroad? Will you be able to access Netflix abroad? Will you need to make a new Netflix subscription in the country you will visit? Can you use your existing Netflix subscription outside your home country?
Netflix is the biggest streaming service on the market, so there is no wonder people wonder what will happen to their Netflix subscription once they go abroad. A couple of years ago, when I was still a Netflix newbie, I had the same question. In fact, I actually had two different Netflix subscription at once time, simply because I believed I need a new Netflix subscription for every single country in which I wanted to watch Netflix. But, I quickly discovered I was wrong. So, how does this actually work? Can you access Netflix when leaving your home country?
Can I use my Netflix account abroad?
Let me start by answering the following question: “Can I use my Netflix account abroad?” What you will quickly discover is that once you visit a new nation and open the Netflix application, you will not need to sign in over again or create a new user. Your current Netflix subscription can be used, and there is no need to create a new subscription. In other words, you can use your present Netflix subscription all across the world, and there is no need to create a second or third Netflix subscription.
Is there anywhere I cannot use my Netflix subscription?
There is a little exception to what I wrote above, and that is if you decide to visit China, Syria, Crimea, and North Korea. If you try to visit the Netflix website in any of these nations, you will be greeted by a site telling you that the service is unavailable in your present location. If this is you, then you can easily use a VPN that will help you unblock Netflix, but I guess there is a very small amount of people who will try to watch Netflix while visiting any of these nations (with the exception of China).
What will happen as I visit Netflix outside my home country?
When you try to visit Netflix outside your home country, you will quickly discover that it works. But, you are most likely to discover some more things as well. For example, you should quickly notice that you cannot find the same content that you are used to, at least if you look around for some minutes. All the Netflix original productions can be found in the Netflix application or at the Netflix website, but once you start digging around for productions not produced for or by Netflix, you will see the differences. For example, there are lots of TV shows that can be streamed in certain countries, while you cannot find them at all elsewhere. Some countries have access to 6 seasons of The Blacklist, while other countries will give you access, and others only 3 or 4, or maybe no seasons at all.
While you can watch all the Marvel movies in one Netflix region, you can only find a few in another nation. And while you will find lots of Norwegian content on Netflix in Norway, you will suddenly discover that none of that content is available as you open the Netflix website during your stay in Spain.
In other words, the biggest difference you will notice is the fact that the Netflix catalog looks very different from nation to nation.
Is there anything I can do to get hold of my home Netflix country while abroad?
Some people are really happy about having the chance to access new content on Netflix while abroad. But, others are sad as they discovered that they cannot continue watching their favorite TV show or a movie they had planned on streaming. So, what can you do if you want to watch your home Netflix region while abroad?
There are several VPN providers that will help you get unblock Netflix regions, and thus give you access to different Netflix countries, even though you presently reside somewhere else. You can read more about the best VPN providers for Netflix in this article, and there you will see which provider is worth using for the different Netflix regions.
We have also written a couple of articles directly related to how you can watch American Netflix abroad, Canadian Netflix abroad, and also German Netflix abroad, so feel free to check out those articles as well if you want more information on those specific nations.
Another exception to the rule – traveling within the EU
There is one more exception to this rule about watching Netflix outside your home-country. The EU has implemented some new regulations, making it easier to enjoy Netflix when abroad. Or maybe not? The rules make things work in the following way.
- If you have a Netflix subscription registered in an EU country, you will always have access to the Netflix content of your home country as you travel within the EU. As a consequence, a Swedish person traveling within the EU, will always get access to Swedish Netflix, no matter which other EU country they might visit. If you want to change your Netflix region within the EU, click the link for more info.
- If you have a Netflix subscription registered outside the EU, you will not be affected by this, and you will always get access to the country you are currently in as you travel within the EU or outside the EU.
- If your Netflix account is registered in an EU country, you will always have access to your home-country. But,once you leave the European Union, you will immediately get access to the Netflix catalog of the given country you are in at the moment.
I hope I managed to explain this to you in an easy way. If you have questions, write them in the comment field!
What do you miss on Netflix when you leave your home country?
I have described some ways to access other Netflix regions in this article, but still, there will be content that you cannot watch as you leave your home country. Which is your favorite show on Netflix or favorite movie that you are afraid to miss out on, or not being able to stream it, as you go abroad? I would love to hear about your favorite shows and movies, and if you name them, maybe I can help you out even and let you know in which Netflix region you might be able to watch it (if it isn’t available where you are at right now).
Thank you for reading, and please share your thoughts, your favorite Netflix content and more as you write a comment beneath!
